This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2001-069136, filed on Mar. 12, 2001, and the disclosure of such application is herein incorporated by reference to the extent permitted by law.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a semiconductor manufacturing method and apparatus. Particularly, the present invention is related to an apparatus and method for forming a semiconductor circuit over a semiconductor wafer while executing a semiconductor manufacturing process of the semiconductor wafer.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a semiconductor circuit is manufactured by slicing a semiconductor wafer as individual chips. Such semiconductor wafer would have a plurality of circuit patterns of identical shape formed thereon by utilizing thin film technology such as vapor deposition technology, sputtering, etc.
An example of conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus performing such process is shown in FIG. 3.
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 includes wafer mounting sections 102a and 102b having containers 101a and 101b for containing semiconductor wafers, process chambers 103a and 103b for performing manufacturing process of the semiconductor wafer, and a conveying section 104 for conveying the semiconductor wafer between the wafer mounting sections and the process chambers.
The wafer mounting sections 102a and 102b are provided with hermetic containers 101a and 101b having a configuration in which a plurality of semiconductor wafer can be mounted therein, therefore permitting conveying the wafers without exposing them to external environment.
The process chambers 103a and 103b may include semiconductor processes such as: forming semiconductor circuit patterns over the semiconductor wafer by means of vapor deposition, sputtering or other thin film forming technologies; forming resist patterns corresponding to the semiconductor circuit pattern; etching the semiconductor wafer having the resist pattern formed thereon, etc.
The wafer conveying section 104 has a conveying robot 105 for conveying the semiconductor wafers between the wafer mounting sections (102a and 102b) and the process chambers (103a and 103b).
In such semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100, the containers 101a and 101b containing semiconductor wafers are mounted on the wafer mounting section 102a and 102b, the semiconductor wafers are taken out of the containers 101a and 101b by the conveying robot 105 of the wafer conveying section 104 and transferred to the processing chambers 103a and 103b, passing through the wafer conveying 104. In addition, the semiconductor manufacturing processes are performed against the semiconductor wafers supplied to the processing chamber 103a and 103b. 
As a result, it is possible to form a plurality of semiconductor circuit patterns of identical or similar configuration over the semiconductor wafer and, by slicing the semiconductor wafer after forming the plurality of semiconductor circuit patterns as individual semiconductor chips, it is possible to manufacture a plurality of semiconductor circuits as a lot.
In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 mentioned above, the semiconductor wafer is inspected upon being transferred to an inspection apparatus, in order to assuring quality and yield rate, after the semiconductor manufacturing process is finished. In addition, before executing an actual production of the semiconductor, the conditions of the process are verified with one up to a few pieces of semiconductor wafers previously processed.
However, there is a drawback in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which the manufacturing time is relatively extensive, as the semiconductor wafer cannot be transferred to the inspection apparatus unless the semiconductor manufacturing process are performed for all semiconductor wafers contained within the above-mentioned containers 101a and 101b. 
This is particularly critical for sampling inspection, as a few pieces of semiconductor wafer have to be taken out randomly from the containers 101a and 101b and such sampling can be done only after the manufacturing process is completed for all semiconductor wafers in the containers. Thus, such configuration constitutes a limiting factor for the productivity of the process.
In view of such problems, it has been conventional practice to have the inspection apparatus in line, i.e., to introduce the inspection apparatus along with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in the manufacturing system, or to establish monitoring by introducing an inspection unit in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus itself.
Nevertheless, having the inspection apparatus in line is not cost-effective, when considering that the inspection process easily receives influence from external factors such as vibration and the inspection is performed by sampling of only a few pieces, thus performance of the process is compromised. On the other hand, the monitoring has not yet achieved a level of technological development enough to perform inspection of a production in large scale.
Moreover, there are many processes in the inspection of a semiconductor wafer that still required visual check by an inspector, such as verification of a surface of the wafer, thus it is still common practice to execute inspection after semiconductor manufacturing processes of all semiconductor wafers are finished.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the above-mentioned situation of the prior art. It is preferable according to the present invention, to provide a semiconductor manufacturing method and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that allows reduction of production time and improvement of quality and yield rate by permitting realizing inspection of a semiconductor wafer while executing the semiconductor manufacturing process.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing method for forming a semiconductor circuit on a semiconductor wafer while performing semiconductor manufacturing process on the semiconductor wafer, such method including: mounting a plurality of the semiconductor wafers on a mounting position on a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus; removing a semiconductor wafer among the plurality of semiconductor wafers from a position different from the mounting position of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus while a semiconductor manufacturing process is performed for each of the plurality of semiconductor wafers, the removed semiconductor wafer being a semiconductor wafer to which the semiconductor manufacturing process is finished; inspecting the removed semiconductor wafer; returning the removed semiconductor wafer to the position different from the mounting position on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, if the removed semiconductor wafer is evaluated as good in the inspecting step; returning the removed semiconductor wafer to the mounting position on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, together with other semiconductor wafers having finished the semiconductor manufacturing process.
As described above, according to the semiconductor manufacturing method of the present invention, by removing a semiconductor wafer among the plurality of semiconductor wafers to which the semiconductor manufacturing process is finished, from a position different from the mounting position of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, it is possible to execute the semiconductor manufacturing process for the remaining plurality of semiconductor wafers while inspection is done to the removed semiconductor wafer.
In addition, by returning the inspected semiconductor wafer from a position which is different from the mounting position of the plurality of semiconductor wafers on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and then returning the semiconductor wafer along with the other semiconductor wafers to which manufacturing process has been finished, to a position on the semiconductor apparatus provided for the plurality of semiconductor wafers, it is possible to return the semiconductor wafers to their position on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus without having influence from the inspection process of the removed semiconductor wafer.
As a result, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to perform inspection of the semiconductor wafer while executing in parallel, the manufacturing process of the semiconductor wafers.
In addition, if the removed semiconductor wafer is evaluated as defective in the inspection process, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is immediately stopped. As a result, it is possible to restrain occurrence of defective products.
According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for forming a semiconductor circuit on a semiconductor wafer while performing semiconductor manufacturing process on the semiconductor wafer, such apparatus including: a wafer mounting section for mounting a plurality of the semiconductor wafers; a process chamber for performing a semiconductor manufacturing process of the semiconductor wafer; a wafer service section for removing and/or setting the semiconductor wafer; a wafer conveying section for conveying the semiconductor wafer between the mounting section, the process chamber and the wafer service section. An arbitrary semiconductor wafer among semiconductor wafers having finished the semiconductor manufacturing process in the process chamber is removed from the wafer service section, and the arbitrary wafer is returned to the wafer mounting section together with other semiconductor wafers having finished the semiconductor manufacturing process, after the arbitrary semiconductor wafer is returned to the wafer service section.
As described above, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, by removing a semiconductor wafer among the plurality of semiconductor wafers to which the semiconductor manufacturing process is finished, it is possible to execute the semiconductor manufacturing process for the remaining plurality of semiconductor wafers while inspection is done to the removed semiconductor wafer.
In addition, by returning the inspected semiconductor wafer from the wafer service section (wafer server), the semiconductor wafer is returned to the wafer mounting section along with the other semiconductor wafers to which manufacturing process has been finished. As a result, it is possible to return the semiconductor wafers to their mounting position on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus without having influence from the inspection process of the removed semiconductor wafer.
As a result, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to place or remove an arbitrary semiconductor wafer from the wafer service section while executing in parallel the manufacturing process of the semiconductor wafers in the process chamber.
Also, if the removed semiconductor wafer is evaluated as defective in the inspection process, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is immediately stopped, thus it is possible to restrain occurrence of defective products.
As described above, according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to attain reduction of manufacturing time and improvement of both quality and yield rate, as it is permitted to perform inspection of the semiconductor wafers while performing the semiconductor manufacturing processes.